# Can you walk down a flight of steps without looking at it? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 1, 2011, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-walk-down-a-flight-of-steps-without-looking-at-it/580404 "2011-05-01T19:49:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-walk-down-a-flight-of-steps-without-looking-at-it/580404/21 "2011-05-02T14:34:17Z")
No. The last time I did, bones broke. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-walk-down-a-flight-of-steps-without-looking-at-it/580404/22 "2011-05-02T14:38:45Z")
Me, too. Wrist bone, two knucklebones and tailbone, and two toe bones. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-walk-down-a-flight-of-steps-without-looking-at-it/580404/23 "2011-05-02T14:40:51Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Me, too. Wrist bone, two knucklebones and tailbone, Ouch. For me it was my right tarsus and left big and second toes. I walked around on a cane for six weeks. It didn’t really matter which side I carried it on. ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-walk-down-a-flight-of-steps-without-looking-at-it/580404/24 "2011-05-02T17:12:29Z")
No, I have to look at the steps, though I don’t have a death grip on the railing or anything. I have no depth perception to speak of so stairs are a bit of a visual challenge for me. ---
**Author:** ![Surly\_Chick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Surly\_Chick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surly_Chick)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-walk-down-a-flight-of-steps-without-looking-at-it/580404/25 "2011-05-02T18:01:13Z")
Nope. But I have bad bone spurs in my feet that screw up my balance. ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-walk-down-a-flight-of-steps-without-looking-at-it/580404/26 "2011-05-02T18:08:01Z")
no, i can’t. when i’m carrying something i must be able to see around it at least a itty bitty bit. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-walk-down-a-flight-of-steps-without-looking-at-it/580404/27 "2011-05-02T18:41:56Z")
I count steps compulsively (which may or may not be a disorder, it doesn’t seem to interfere with my life’s functionality), so yes I frequently do if it’s a familiar staircase. If I’m not familiar with how many steps there are, I will look down. ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-walk-down-a-flight-of-steps-without-looking-at-it/580404/28 "2011-05-02T18:47:47Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > No. The last time I did, bones broke. My experience exactly; I fractured my right femur and will be using a cane for (probably) the rest of my life. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-walk-down-a-flight-of-steps-without-looking-at-it/580404/29 "2011-05-02T18:51:23Z")
I have to see the steps too, which is why I hate carrying big things on them. And I like for there to be a handrail at least nearby. I have a touch of vertigo. A few months ago I was on my way home from work. A young woman was waiting outside of her apartment building, and asked if I could give her a hand. She needed to get a rather large object up about 5 steps, then open a locked door, keep it propped open, and move said large object inside. I (perhaps foolishly) agreed to help her. She went up first, backwards, and I followed. We went one step at a time. I was so nervous that I was going to drop the large object, or spill its contents. The object was a baby carriage. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-walk-down-a-flight-of-steps-without-looking-at-it/580404/30 "2011-05-02T18:53:17Z")
> [@LouisB](#): > > My experience exactly; I fractured my right femur and will be using a cane for (probably) the rest of my life. Ouch! At least I was on a treadmill after 6 weeks. If you’re going to break anything below the hips, make it a toe. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-walk-down-a-flight-of-steps-without-looking-at-it/580404/31 "2011-05-02T18:59:15Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > I have to see the steps too, which is why I hate carrying big things on them. And I like for there to be a handrail at least nearby. I have a touch of vertigo. > > A few months ago I was on my way home from work. A young woman was waiting outside of her apartment building, and asked if I could give her a hand. She needed to get a rather large object up about 5 steps, then open a locked door, keep it propped open, and move said large object inside. > > I (perhaps foolishly) agreed to help her. She went up first, backwards, and I followed. We went one step at a time. I was so nervous that I was going to drop the large object, or spill its contents. > > The object was a baby carriage. She couldn’t have taken the goddamn baby out and carried it up herself separately? Yeesh. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-walk-down-a-flight-of-steps-without-looking-at-it/580404/32 "2011-05-02T19:03:54Z")
> [@rachelellogram](#): > > She couldn’t have taken the goddamn baby out and carried it up herself separately? Yeesh. I wondered that too. But then I thought about it. She’d have to carry the baby all the way upstairs – who knows what floor she lives on – put the baby in her apartment, then leave it unattended while she went back downstairs to get the carriage, which may well have been stolen by that point. That’s not really an optimal way of doing it. But yeah, she had to enlist the help of a stranger any time she went in or out. What a life! ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-walk-down-a-flight-of-steps-without-looking-at-it/580404/33 "2011-05-02T19:08:41Z")
I could and did when I was younger, but a trip and bad fall in my early 50’s (no serious injuries) alerted me to be more careful. Since then I’m very aware of my sense of balance being less than it once was, and always look very closely at my feet when going down steps. . ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-walk-down-a-flight-of-steps-without-looking-at-it/580404/34 "2011-05-02T19:17:06Z")
I regularly go up and down the stairs at the office with my eyes closed just for the heck of it. Not sure why I started doing it but I do so every few times. ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-walk-down-a-flight-of-steps-without-looking-at-it/580404/35 "2011-05-02T19:17:23Z")
Hasn’t pretty much any able-bodied person who’s ever moved done this? And like the other poster said, \*backwards \*while carrying a couch / refrigerator / deep freezer / mattress, etc. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-walk-down-a-flight-of-steps-without-looking-at-it/580404/36 "2011-05-02T19:20:07Z")
> [@drastic\_quench](#): > > Hasn’t pretty much any able-bodied person who’s ever moved done this? And like the other poster said, \*backwards \*while carrying a couch / refrigerator / deep freezer / mattress, etc. I’ve done it, but I’ve become more of a klutz as I’ve gotten older. And the couch never had a baby in it. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-walk-down-a-flight-of-steps-without-looking-at-it/580404/37 "2011-05-02T19:48:20Z")
If it has a hand rail, sure. If it doesn’t, I don’t take any chances unless I’m very familiar with that particular staircase. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-walk-down-a-flight-of-steps-without-looking-at-it/580404/38 "2011-05-02T21:19:46Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > I wondered that too. But then I thought about it. She’d have to carry the baby all the way upstairs – who knows what floor she lives on – put the baby in her apartment, then leave it unattended while she went back downstairs to get the carriage, which may well have been stolen by that point. That’s not really an optimal way of doing it. > > But yeah, she had to enlist the help of a stranger any time she went in or out. What a life! Indeed. I always wonder how people with strollers/babies manage on the subway. I have enough trouble getting my MetroCard out with all my various bags–forget an actual, factual baby! ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-walk-down-a-flight-of-steps-without-looking-at-it/580404/39 "2011-05-02T22:40:19Z")
Of course. If it’s a staircase you use regularly it’s in your muscle memory how far you need to step each time. And unless it’s a funky-weird or winding staircase of some sort, then the steps are usually equidistant, so you can pick up the rhythm quickly. ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-walk-down-a-flight-of-steps-without-looking-at-it/580404/40 "2011-05-04T02:32:59Z")
So just this morning, at 4am, I had my cat in a carrier on the way to the ER. I was going down the back deck stairs that aren’t lit very well and missed the last step on the second landing. I did a weird fast-kneel on one knee while my other foot went out from under me. My hands were sort of free since it was a soft carrier slung cross-body, so I caught myself and the carrier never touched the ground. While I felt it was a 10.0 landing from my perspective, I’m sure it was hilarious if anyone else had seen it. (cat’s fine - it’s a UTI and he’s already getting better) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-walk-down-a-flight-of-steps-without-looking-at-it/580404.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-walk-down-a-flight-of-steps-without-looking-at-it/580404.md?page=3)